PlayStation All-Stars: Terror of the Tombs
by Coleiosis
Summary: Mr. Grimm has stolen the Ring of Souls, and now he wants to bring back Kaden and Charlie Kane as zombies! Ratchet and Sweet Tooth must must fight off their worst fear; unless they want to plead their fathers into coming back to their loved ones. Rated T for scary and sad situations, blood, and mild violence. Genres: horror, suspense, tragedy, family, and hurt/comfort


PlayStation All-Stars: Terror from the Tombs

By Cole Bezotte (Coleiosis)

With special thanks to N Kirby (the one who encouraged me to keep on writing)

**Note: one asterisk sign (*) will show the beginning of a scene, while two asterisks (**) will show the end of a scene, transitioning into a new scene.**

*****If you remember in our last story (PlayStation All-Stars: Endgame), I said that I would stop writing fanfiction stories. Well, I changed my mind about it. One of my friends on this website told me that she really liked my series, so it gave me the courage to keep up the good work. In the meantime, Black had lost the Ring of Souls after the Calypso Industries building was blasted to pieces (Dark Tooth was detonated to self-destruct). Also, Ratchet still swore that he would bring the Kane family and the Sparks family back into the light where they once were. But he had caught a cold after the bullet from Mr. Ash's gun was dug out of his chest.

So, after about two weeks, Ratchet was finally starting to feel better. It had also been a while since Jak, Daxter, Cole MacGrath, Galactic President Qwark, Doctor Nefarious (and his butler Lawrence), and Sir Daniel Fortesque had joined the good guys' team (with the ones that had stuck around all the time: Nathan Drake, Ratchet, Clank, Sackboy, Raiden, and Sly Cooper). Everything was going pretty normal most days until something happened.

Ratchet was throwing his last tissue into a trash can when he heard that his cell phone was ringing. He looked at his phone's screen, and it read: I SCRM. "I think I can make out who's calling me," Ratchet thought to himself. "This ID name means 'I scream.' Needles is trying to call me; but for what reason?" Ratchet picked up the call and said the usual "hello" through the phone.

"Is that you, Ratchet?" Needles Kane replied on the other line.

"Yes, it's me," Ratchet said. "What do you want?"

"I need you to come here. I'm at the Los Angeles Cemetery where all my dead relatives are buried. Here's my father Charlie Kane buried right in front of me. And then there's my wife, who is buried an acre away from where I'm standing. This is astounding how I'm finding all these dead people from my family! But I'd like you to come down here because I'M CHALLENGING YOU TO THE LAST SHOWDOWN! That's right, punk! If you want to avenge me of my family's death, then you can come and bring me back to 'the light.' I'll be waiting for you, idiot! Meet me here."

But before Needles could hang up, he heard a beeping sound on his phone, saying that there was somebody on the other line other than Ratchet. Needles read on the screen of his cell phone who was calling: JAKOSUM (it meant: Jak awesome). He answered to that call as well and said: "Hello?"

It was Daxter who was calling from Jak's cell phone. "Hey Sweet Tooth! All these dead relatives of yours are making me want to start one of them horror pop bands. I'll grab a deadly axe and call myself 'Daxterminate!' Pretty creepy, eh?" But his talk was cut when Needles heard that Jak was on the line as well, yelling at Daxter.

"Daxter, stop messing with my phone!" Jak exclaimed as he snatched his phone away from Daxter. The call made over at that particular line had ended, leaving Ratchet and Needles as the only ones calling.

"Anyway," Needles spoke up again as he cleared his throat, freaked out by Daxter's little act. "Come and meet me! I'll be waiting! And you'll have to provide for me the moment to say 'Shut up and bleed!'" Needles hung up, leaving Ratchet waiting for the pit of despair that would soon come to haunt him.

As Ratchet hung up his phone, he felt more worried than ever. He knew that this would be his most challenging battle ever; he even saw that he would die trying to bring Needles back to goodness. "Perhaps," he thought to himself, "I should point out some precious things that would affect him most, including some elements about his family. I know just what to do! I'll gather around everybody to discuss with this matter." ******

*****That night, Ratchet gathered everyone (Clank, Nathan Drake, Raiden, Sackboy, Sly Cooper, Jak, Daxter, Cole MacGrath, Sir Daniel Fortesque, Dr. Nefarious, Captain Qwark, Sasha Phyronix, and Needles' split-personality Marcus) into the basement of the main house for a secret meeting. Ratchet stood behind a table that held some certain items that were significant to the case of the real Marcus Kane.

Once everyone sat down on chairs set up and had quieted down, Ratchet spoke up for the meeting that was taking place. "Now that we're all here," he spoke, "let's get down to business, shall we? On this table here are some certain things that Nathan and Sly had found beneath the rubble of the Calypso Industries building. All these are also the things that Calypso had given the Twisted Metal contestants as their wishes. But not just that, there's also some things that had to do with the Marcus Kane that we know. So listen up, you all! Because this is gonna get juicy!"

Everyone looked at the table and saw that the top of it was completely coated with all these things. It covered the entire table, so this was going to be one long talk. Ratchet picked up the first item that came to his mind. "Here is the brown paper bag that Marcus wanted as one of his prizes of winning the Twisted Metal competition. In his lost mind, he thought of this as his best friend. And right here is the hook that his father Charlie Kane had as his right hand. Perhaps it was cut off when he was driving his taxi-cab Yellow Jacket. And also, here are the keys to one of the biggest evil weapons that Marcus devised called Tower Tooth…" Ratchet kept on talking about all this "meaningless crap" that bored all the other guys to death. It seemed like he was getting nowhere with this.

After about two hours of "babbling," Ratchet took a big drink of water, then kept on speaking: "And here is the recorder box that Agent Stone and Commander Mason fought over. Agent Stone wanted the whole world to know that aliens do truly exist, but Commander Mason wanted to take the box and hide it so that the world won't be in a panic and…" But Ratchet was soon interrupted by an impatient-sounding Nathan.

"Ratchet! What's the big deal?! You've been babbling about all this meaningless crap, and yet we're getting nowhere! So spit it out, and tell us what you're trying to say!"

"Fine! I'll just skip to the last clue!" With that, Ratchet picked up the last item that was on the table. Everyone was shocked when Ratchet held it up for all to see. They all knew who it was in the picture that he held. "This… oh THIS! This is the real Kane family! Marcus is in there, and so are his two sons and one daughter. This photo was taken by Marcus' wife, whose name was never revealed to me. But what I don't get is: what is the name of the youngest son? That's what I'm trying to find out as well. I can still recognize Charlie and Sophie in there, even without their evil clown makeup. But what I'm trying to say is: this is what Marcus was like back then, a compassionate and loving family man. And that's what I want to make him into! I want to bring his love back on track, in the light, where it belongs! But even if I do, I'll even die trying!"

Everyone freaked out at what Ratchet had said. "What?! Are you kidding me!? We can't let you die!"

"I'm sorry; but I am willing to sacrifice my life to save this man from his own evil and cruelty! He told me to meet him at the Los Angeles Cemetery for a showdown, so I'm going alone. I must do all I can to save him from his rage!" A little tear shed from Ratchet's eye as he spoke of this with bravery and humbleness.

Sasha Phyronix got up from her seat and walked over to Ratchet, as if this was to be their last good-bye. "Be safe," she spoke up softly and quietly as she kissed Ratchet on the cheek. An emotional moment of love this certainly was. If this was the last time to see each other, it would be the ultimate.

"I'll do it," Ratchet replied. "I love you."******

*****Later, at the Los Angeles Cemetery, Needles stood there waiting for Ratchet to come to the death that awaited him. He turned his head left, slowly turning to the right, trying to see Ratchet in his sight. Needles then closed his eyes shut for about ten seconds; he went into deep thought about what Ratchet said to him last time they met. Back at that time, Ratchet was about to be shot to his death in the execution that failed. He begged and pleaded Needles to not continue his ways of killing and murdering, but there was no listening to him.

Now Needles was starting to have second thoughts about his ways. "If what he says is true, then… NO! I won't think about it anymore! My split-personality is all of the good in me, taken out of me forever. Now, all that remains in me is pure evil! And I intend to remain that way!"

Right when Needles opened his eyes, he saw that Ratchet was standing right in front of him, ready for this moment. "I'm here for you buddy," he spoke up.

"What are you talking about?!" Needles growled in reply. "I'm not your friend, and I never will be! Do you honestly take me for a fool, Lombax?!"

"I don't want you to be this way, Marcus! I need you! Your friends need you; and I don't mean the evil acquaintances, but I mean the good guys that want to bring you back as well. Even your family would want to come back," Ratchet said as he pulled out the picture of the Kane family.

Needles looked deep into the photo with burning hatred and rage. He looked at the good incarnation of himself: no mask, no fire, and no threatening machete. "Why you!" he shouted as he snatched the photo away from Ratchet and threw it to the ground. He then stomped onto it, crumpling it along the soil and leaving a dirty footprint mark on it. He then picked it back up and (like the madman that he was back then) tore it up into little tiny bits of paper. "Where did you get that picture?!" he shouted.

"Your loyal split-personality gave it to me, to give me evidence that you will soon become innocent again," Ratchet replied.

"We both know that I'm not coming back! I've already told you this before, you know! I'm not coming back! If you think you can bring me back, then you'll a LIAR!"

But before Ratchet could reply, he and Needles heard the voice of a man walking towards them. "On the contrary, they've ALL been lying to you BOTH!" it spoke. Ratchet and Needles turned to see that Mr. Grimm was walking towards them. Mr. Grimm raised his hand to reveal something that he wore on his finger. It was THE RING OF SOULS! "I found this in the rubble of the Calypso Industries right after Black realized that he lost it. Now I have the power to control the souls of the dead! But I wanted to take this so that I can feast on all these poor souls as my greatest meal."

"Mr. Grimm?!" Needles spoke up again. "You double-crosser! I just know that you're planning to kill us all and take our souls as your 'happy meal!'"

"That is correct," Mr. Grimm replied. "I no longer want to become friends with you and Calypso! I always wanted to take HIS soul as well! I can bring back the souls of anyone you know: Krista, Kaden, your father, and all the dead competitors of the Twisted Metal contest! And also, I found out the ultimate thing: this was also created TO CONTROL ALL OF TIME! That's right! THIS IS WHAT CAUSED THE WARP EXPLOSION! After you, Sweet Tooth, had switched bodies with Calypso, Mr. Ash and Black had found this ring after it was lost for a long time. Mr. Ash wanted to force new powers into the ring, but underestimated its powers. He meddled with it and let out the warp explosion, causing all of time to change. It was what caused you to become a father and husband, then a hideous monster! Only you, along with a few other people, remember what had transpired before the warp explosion."

"So!" Ratchet thought to himself after listening to Mr. Grimm's theory, "that's what caused the warp explosion! I should have known!"

"And as for you, Ratchet," Mr. Grimm continued, "I've got a little surprise for you too. You see, when Agent Stone was trying to prove to the world that aliens exist, he was talking about YOU!"

Ratchet gasped. This was definitely the piece of news that was most shocking to him (next to the evidence about his parents' death). Mr. Grimm went on: "The alien that Agent Stone was talking about! YOU ARE THE ALIEN! Years ago, when you were doing a battle here in our galaxy, you were the one who shot the airliner that was in flight. Everyone's been sneaking around hiding things from you, knowing that you are now the ultimate threat to mankind! And so, there shall be more about this! I have harnessed a soul from a distant galaxy and brought it here to cause some serious manslaughter! He's somewhere in this cemetery, waiting for you to DIE!"

Ratchet did remember that battle that went on years ago. It was the fight that occurred about eight years before he and Clank came to Earth and teamed up with Nathan Drake, Raiden, and Sly Cooper. Now he was a threat; a man who haunts the planet and the helpless children. Now he had so much fear inside of him, desperate to run and hide from the humans, who are now his enemies. "RATCHET!" Needles called out to him. But it was too late; in the fog, Ratchet disappeared from sight in a matter of seconds. Things were now looking up for Mr. Grimm.

"A pity he's now afraid," Mr. Grimm spoke up again. "He's going to have revenge upon the humans for doing this to him. You should know that most of his enemies were humans in the first place: you, your son, your daughter, me, Calypso, Radec, and Evil Cole. You saw that look in his eye, didn't you? Those were the eyes of a monster, threatening to make the move of performing the ultimate killing!"

"No," Needles replied. "He's no threat! YOU ARE!" All of a sudden, he gained a change of heart. Has the real Marcus Kane come back at last? "RATCHET! I'M COMING!" With that, he ran off to search for Ratchet, desperate to unite with him and overthrow their real enemy: Mr. Grimm.******

*****Meanwhile, Ratchet ran as fast as he could, looking for this alien assassin that Mr. Grimm brought to Earth for murderous killing. He was also afraid about whom this person would be; if it was a Lombax, then he would certainly be a heavy threat to all of mankind.

Ratchet stopped when he saw someone. The figure stood there, breathing heavily, and holding an Omniwrench (just like Ratchet!). "I was right," Ratchet thought to himself. "It's another Lombax! That means Mr. Grimm was right! I've become a monster!" Tears poured down his face as the thought of it further haunted him. But worse things were soon to come.

The mysterious Lombax holding the Omniwrench turned and revealed himself. He had the same fur color as his son Ratchet did, but he looked more deadly, more crueler than ever. His eyes were blood-shot, his teeth were rotten, and one of his head-tails was cut off and missing. It growled as it spoke slowly to Ratchet: "My… son!"

"DDDDDDAAAAAAADDDDDDDDD!" Ratchet now knew who this was. THIS ZOMBIE WAS HIS FATHER KADEN! "DAD! DON'T DO THIS! IT'S ME, YOUR SON! JUST LISTEN TO ME!" Kaden did not listen. Instead, he threw his Omniwrench at Ratchet, wanting to strike him hard on the head.

But before it could reach Ratchet, Needles (we shall now call him Marcus; it is who he really is) dived into the scene and slid across the ground on his back. "RATCHET! GET DOWN!" he exclaimed as the Omniwrench caught him by the neck, pinning him to the ground.

Ratchet turned and took a good look at Marcus and noticed something very surprising about him. Marcus had his evil clown mask off, and his hair was no longer on fire. He had finally revealed his real face to Ratchet; he revealed himself as THE REAL MARCUS KANE! "Ratchet…" Marcus spoke up. "I must confess. I lost both of my parents as well, but I did not care. I was still the evil menace that everyone knew. But with YOU as a threat, that's what makes you and me equal. We've been the same, and we never knew until now."

"But you don't understand," Ratchet replied as he looked down at Marcus. "Now everyone thinks that I'm some kind of beast! Even my father!"

"Family does not hate each other," Marcus said as he pried the Omniwrench from his neck and got back up to his feet. "Love wins over everything."

Mr. Grimm walked over to Ratchet, Marcus, and Kaden and laughed cruelly. "Don't make me laugh! Ratchet, Marcus has always hated your guts! All the times when you had been fighting him, he gave everything in to kill you!" Next to Mr. Grimm stood another zombie; one that looked awfully familiar to Marcus. It stood there, with blood streaming down his face and down his neck. His bald head was where the blood was coming from. This was MARCUS' FATHER CHARLIE KANE!

Seeing this frightened Ratchet and sent him running away through the fog again. But he only ran for a very short distance this time before hiding behind a boulder. He had taken too much of this moment, causing him to sweat so hard. Mr. Grimm smiled after seeing Ratchet's cowardice. "Not only is he a monster," he spoke up again, "but he's also a cowardly cat! You honestly think he can be trusted?!"

Marcus was not scared of this. He smiled and faced his once-good friend Mr. Grimm (who is now his greatest enemy). "That's not like him," he spoke up. "He may have downed that airliner, and he may have done some silly things. He may have struck out at me very hard when we were enemies, but I struck HIM hard as well. That's not what he is inside! He has saved people's lives so many times and he never asked to be thanked! So you're wrong; he's nothing like a monster! He is Ratchet, son of Kaden, and leader of the League of Heroes!"

Ratchet heard what Marcus had said. He was touched by the kindness that Marcus showed, causing him to shed tears of… well… you get the idea. Now it seemed like Ratchet's worst enemy is now his best friend.

"I may be a zombie as well," Marcus continued, "and I may be a dying man, but this would be all I have left to say before my life ends for the last time. I'll be able to meet my parents again, and love them again!"

Charlie stood there, and his emotion changed from entranced to desperate. "Marcus…" he whimpered. "My son…" With that, he fell down to the ground and was starting to "die again" and return back to the ground from where he once was.

Marcus quickly went over to his father and caught him before hitting the ground. A tear shed from his eye as he began to depart from his father one last time. "Dad… it's all going to be okay. I'm here for you; we're going to be together again soon."

"Marcus," Charlie weakly replied. "I knew you could do it. I knew… Ratchet could bring you back. He did it… but we will die. But… we'll be together. We'll unite once more…" Charlie shed tears as well, then closed his eyes, very close to his final death.

"I'm coming with you," Marcus said.

Then, after Ratchet went out of his hiding place, he saw that Kaden had a certain look in his eye. It was no longer threatening or deadly, but it was rather sad and emotional. He reached down to grab his Omniwrench and (like a madman) lashed right out at Mr. Grimm. Mr. Grimm was astonished as he saw Kaden charging towards him and exclaimed: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He and Kaden began a big fight that was witnessed by the sad eyes of Ratchet, whose life hangs by a thread.

"So this is it?" he thought to himself. "This is how I am to see my father… for the last time?! I cannot say good-bye now!" He watched in horror as Kaden grabbed Mr. Grimm's arm with an iron grip and squeezed it really hard. Kaden's eye caught the Ring of Souls being worn on Mr. Grimm's finger and raised his Omniwrench to STRIKE IT!

"NO! DON'T!" Mr. Grimm exclaimed. "YOU'LL CAUSE ANOTHER WARP EXPLOSION! NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!" But it was too late. Kaden struck the ring as hard as he could, causing bright rays of energy to beam from it. It then began; the second warp explosion had finally occurred.

Everyone was knocked out from the explosion that flashed in complete white around them. After about one minute, once the white light had cleared, Ratchet woke up and saw that Mr. Grimm was lying on the ground next to him. Mr. Grimm lied there, no longer having the Ring of Souls with him. He had lost it… for good! "I… must go," Mr. Grimm whimpered. "Must get away… and hide!" He crawled his way throughout the cemetery and exited the place, leaving Ratchet with Marcus, Charlie, and Kaden.

Ratchet first went over to Kaden, lying there entering his final death. "Dad," Ratchet spoke up as he began to shed tears again. "Can you hear me? Come on, dad, I need you!"

Kaden opened his eyes one more time and saw Ratchet there. He did not recognize him at first, but it took him time for searching his face. "My… son. Is that you?"

"I'm here, dad. I'm still alive. But I can't lose YOU!"

"Ratchet… you are a hero. You're not a monster, you're… a friend… to the humans. Protect them…" It was over. The life of Kaden had now ended… one last time.

Ratchet looked down at Kaden's corpse, with sadness drenching his poor soul and mind. Now there was no other family that he would ever live with… or so he thought. He then heard someone else calling his name quietly in a whisper: "Ratchet…" It was Charlie, lying there on the ground as well. Ratchet went over to him, waiting for what he would say next before dying for the last time. "I just knew you would do it. You brought back… my son. He is good man now. You did it, Ratchet. I believed in you…" With that, Charlie closed his eyes finally and drifted off into death.

"Ratchet," Marcus spoke from behind. "Come here. I just want to say: I did not kill my family on purpose."

"What?!" Ratchet replied. "You didn't!?"

"Exactly. You see, when I was just a normal ice cream man, I thought of myself as a different person. That's what formed this evil split-personality to form inside of me. It forced me to create the mask, and it took over my mind and body. (Note: from this point on, we shall call the split-personality Needles. It's what made that name.) Now that this second warp explosion happened, my other split-personality (Marcus, driver of Roadkill) no longer exists. He was my complete goodness, in the form of a person, while evil remained in me. But now, he no longer exists; I'm back to being good, thanks to you."

"So, if you're back to being good now, then where's the personality?"

"It must have been sucked into the Ring of Souls. It left me finally!"

"But how did you get the alias name 'Sweet Tooth?'"

"It was just the name of the company I was working for: 'Sweet Tooth's Ice Cream.' Funny how Needles used that as the alias name." Marcus suddenly felt his heart giving out and dying; he was a zombie as well, so this had to be the end for him now. "My time has come," he continued. "Thank you for your help, Ratchet."

"It was what I wanted to do all along, Marcus," Ratchet replied. "I did my best."

"And you pulled it off! And also, your friends… are your family. Look after each other… protect each other…" Before drifting off, Marcus gave one last request. "Ratchet…"

"Yeah?"

"Please do… one thing for me. Find my children… bring them back… I love them…" With one more tear shed, Marcus Kane had died right there. Ratchet continued his crying, engulfing the moment within him. He got up and started to walk out of the cemetery until…

He felt something plunge right up his nose and into his head. His eyes turned this way and that; his teeth gritted; and his head was stormy. He then started to laugh evilly and insanely. "Yes! YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Now I can make the alien theory true! I, Needles, have now taken over Ratchet's body and mind! And now I shall use it to cause some serious havoc and destruction among the humans! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" The evil split-personality, Needles, had escaped the Ring of Souls before the second warp explosion and has now entered into RATCHET'S MIND! It lives in thin air; nobody can see it. But it can enter into anyone's mind and control that person; and now it has TAKEN OVER RATCHET!

**NEXT TIME: "PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS: RATCHET WANTED FOR TREASON!"**


End file.
